by Gordon, Eva
She extended her cup. “I will have more.”
He sensed she drank to sooth her nerves. He bit into the foul tasting fruit and chewed, grimacing from its bitter flavor.
Cassia laughed. “Ferox bring Ulric some fresh meat.” After he left, she gazed at him with her bewitching green eyes. “Ferox is aware that you know I’m a wolf maiden.”
“Can he be trusted?”
She nodded. “Ferox has served the Lupercus Laelianus pack since he was a boy. He has been with Gaius for ten years.”
He raised a brow. “Lupercus Laelianus Albius?” The powerful alpha of the Northern Roman Alps. The alpha’s sister, Petronia, now ruled the Lupercal and like her, Albius abhorred lycan slavery.
“Yes. Albius is Gaius’s master. My lord Gaius is a Lupercii and physician for the lycan kind.”
His eyes shot toward the curtains of the clinic and he pressed his finger to his lip. “Shh. Lucius is awake.”
She stood. “I’ll check on him.” She half turned. “Then perhaps we can talk more while we take a stroll.”
Ulric’s lip twitched but gave a slow nod and followed her. Lucius sat and drank watered wine from his flagon. He finished the cup and bowed in respectful greeting. “Good afternoon, Cassia.”
She touched his forehead. “How do you feel?”
“Better. I think my ribs are healed and my insides no longer bleed.”
Her fingers moved along his ribcage. “You are lucky to be an alpha. It appears the waxing moon is aiding your recovery.”
Lucius sniffed her residual blood and threw a quick glance in the direction of the washbasin within his reach. “I noticed the discarded bloodied bandages. You are hurt; what happened?”
Ulric had the strongest urge to punch the boy’s questioning mouth but stood silent. He didn’t like his mate touching him. Yet she was a physician, an educated woman, not just a slave as he was. One thing was certain. He would not allow her to hum or whatever she did that caused her to take in a lycan’s pain and fall in a fit. It was his right to protect his mate.
She scoffed, “Oh, just an accident with my surgical knife.” She distracted him by poking his leg. “How does that feel?”
He bellowed, “It hurts!”
She looked at the bindings. “I’m afraid you need to stay off both legs for many weeks and then you’ll need a cane for the left leg. Even a lycan cannot heal so fast from such damage.”
He drew his face into a despondent frown. “Am I to be a cripple?”
“No, a slight limp perhaps, but never a cripple.”
He cast his eyes down in shame. “In my father’s eyes I will be.”
Ulric pitied him. Lycans held runts and crippled lycans in high distain. In his father’s pack, this had not been the case. “A scar or loss of limb due to an act of bravery is greatly admired.”
Lucius shot him a sullen glance.
“The gladiator is correct.” She smiled. “I have a salve that will initiate healing under the full moon.” She grabbed a jar and opened it. “You must lie down and close your eyes.”
He did as told and she rubbed the salve beneath the bindings. “I will hum to lull you to rest.”
Lucius nodded as she held his hand. “Yes, your voice is pleasing.”
Ulric fiercely grabbed her arm and pulled her away. He refused to allow her to risk suffering another fit.
Lucius opened his eyes and frowned. “Ulricus, what is the meaning of this?”
Ulric bowed. “Do you not smell her imbalance? She is about to convulse from her malady.”
She scowled at him but did not argue. “He is right; I do feel a bit faint.”
Lucius lifted a brow and sighed. “My sense of smell is not back to normal.” He waved her away. “Go rest. I already feel much better.”
Her arm still in Ulric’s solid grip she nodded, “I will. Tonight, Ferox and I will go stay with his sister. Though I have vowed to serve your kind, I still find you frightening during the full moon.”
He smiled at her with a hint of his fangs, “I shall see you on the morrow then.”
Ulric guided her out and into the garden. He glared down at her. “You are forbidden from releasing his pain!”
“It is my duty to heal your kind. Without my help, he’ll always be lame. I can help him walk normally again.”
He kept her arm locked in his and guided her outside the gate for the promised stroll. “Let him walk lame then. You will not heal him that way.”
“Oh, Ulric. This is what I was born to do.”
“Humph!” How could he stop her duty from serving the lycan kind? Yet it was his duty to protect her from harm. He softened his tone. “Tell me more of your gift.”
“I’m a rare woman. A Valeria Luperca, a wolf maiden with the gift to heal lycans.” She twisted a small smile on her luscious lips. “I suppose one could see it as a curse since I cannot heal humans or even myself, only your kind. Valeria Luperca was the first. Long ago, a young wolf maiden named Valeria raised by natural wolves came to the attention of a pagan priest. He chose her as a sacrifice to an ancient wolf god. Before being struck by the priest’s ax, Feronia’s eagle swooped down and carried her off. Feronia received her in her temple and gifted her with healing. The wolf maiden had four daughters with the gift. Each daughter migrated in a different direction. A mystery remained as to where they settled. I’m obviously one of their descendants.” She sighed, “It is my lot in life to help all lycans and lupines. All canines. I can cure not only wolves but dogs as well.”
He frowned. “Goddess blessed or not, you are my mate. I will protect you from getting hurt even if it means preventing you from using your gift.” He narrowed his eyes. “Is this why Gaius bought you?”
“As an orphan child I saved his master Alpha Albius from an arrow laced with wolfsbane.”
Ulric felt his stomach twist at the memory of how his own father had died from the only poison that could kill a lycan. An agonizing death and one without a known anecdote. He uttered more to himself, “Wolfsbane?”
She stopped and held his attention with tear filled eyes. “Ulric, I cannot be your mate. It is not possible. You belong to Macula and I am property of Gaius.” She stared at her hands. “Petronia, head of the Lupercal, suggested I find an established pack alpha.”
Although she slapped him with the harsh reality of their predicament, he didn’t care. He raked his hair back. “A suggestion, not a command.” He held her by her shoulders. “You know we are mates. If need be I will break free, go rogue, and take you with me. Nothing will stop me from claiming you. My Chattian pack believed in the Fates. By the will of Tanfana, nothing will come between us.”
She gazed at him and opened her mouth as if to protest, but he cupped her face and kissed her. He wanted to howl with joy as he engulfed her mouth.
She moaned and dug her fingers in his hair; her passion inflamed as her sweet mouth explored him, possessed him. Upon release, she begged him, “Oh, my gladiator, what are we to do?”
He trailed kisses down her neck and then pressed her hand against his hard phallus. “Heal this, physician.”
She shuddered in his hold. “Ulric, I’m serious. Do you realize what Macula will do if he finds out I’m a Valeria Luperca, claimed by you, his slave?”
“Enough talk.” He reclaimed her mouth and silenced her with a possessive kiss. Her scent, taste, and her beauty completed him. His adopted religion of Feronia deemed that all alpha males were destined to find their mates and he had found his. She belonged to him.
***
Ferox locked elbows with Cassia as they crossed the bridge. They had slept at his sister’s modest domicile and in the early light walked back home. Egidius tethered by a rope followed them. Ulric had agreed to let her leave before the full moon. They both knew that with the waxed moon, Ulric would not be able to resist her. Dear Feronia, all night the temptation to run back into his brawny arms had driven her mad. Too dangerous. Especially with Lucius in the same household. Pity on Lucius if he dare
d interrupt. Ulric mentioned taking her to the woods, leaving Macula’s son chained and alone. She convinced him of the unpredictability of the moon’s influence over the healing lycan’s pained body. Besides, it gave her time to think of the consequences of being a gladiator’s mate.
Her goat stopped to nip at flowers. “Egid, hurry!” She quickened her pace, anxious to return. Her mind flooded with erotic thoughts. What would have happened had they found a private place to mate? She smiled. Was it true the gladiator preferred virgins?
Ferox distracted her thoughts. “Do you think the boy is well enough to return to his home?”
A rooster flapped its wings and chased a chicken as they neared the pathway to her villa. She wiped away dust and then scratched her shoulder. The bed must have had biting bugs. She needed a bath. “I will give him a thorough examination. I believe he’s ready to convalesce in his home.” Ulric too would leave. How would he react to leaving her? Yet he had not claimed her. Part of her regretted he had not bitten her mark and embedded his possessive scent. She longed for more than his claiming bite. Dear Feronia, I want him to deflower me. Yet reason dictated they not mate. Not while he was Macula’s omega.
“Even without one more healing session?” asked Ferox.
She rolled her eyes. “Ulric will not allow it.” A major obstacle if he claimed her. A Valeria Luperca’s duty superseded wifely duties.
He sighed, “Gaius must return soon. The gladiator cannot lay claim on you.” Ferox stopped. “Your lycan wolf mark, it’s not…”
Her face flushed with heat. Curses on her sensitive skin. “Yes, it turns hot just thinking about him.” He grew silent as if embarrassed to know such information from a woman he helped raise from early childhood. What would Gaius think or do? Send her north to Albius’ pack? Or perhaps to Gaul with Petronia. Could she forget Ulric? Gaius’ counsel would help.
“Ferox, arrange for a messenger to send Gaius my letter. I will tell him the rose is red.” Gaius had developed a secret code sentence for her to convey when she found a mate. She furrowed her brow. “In the meantime I explained my refusal to Ulric, but I doubt he’ll see reason. He is a barbarian lycan after all.” She knew so little of the Chattian lycans. Rumors were they had little contact with the humans and they fiercely protected the sacred ash groves.
As they approached the gates, she noticed the useless guards. She lifted a brow. “Why look, they have returned.” She laughed. “And appear sober.”
Ferox nodded. “Ulric must have allowed them back.”
She scoffed. “For a slave he does not know his place.”
“He thinks we belong to him.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Did he mark our territory?”
“The entire perimeter.”
“Hmm. I hadn’t noticed.”
“It was the night after your assault in the marketplace.”
“Macula will not like that one bit.” She opened the gate and handed Egid’s rope to Ferox. “I will check on Lucius before I have a word with the gladiator.”
In the triclinium, Lucius reclined on the couch and munched on a raw piece of meat. His color had returned and he smiled at her. “My special lady, welcome back.” He gave her a knowing look.
Ulric with his long hair loose like a lion’s mane sat on the opposite side with his own plate of flesh. He gave her a wry smile and a wink.
She scowled at him and then looked at Macula’s son. “Lucius, what are you doing here?”
The boy set his cup of wine down. “Last night we slept as wolves under the full moon and I prayed to Lusna. Except for my legs, I believe I’m ready to go home. I shall dispatch a message to my mother about my progress.”
“Oh, I see.” Her tone firm, she voiced her expert opinion, “As your physician I must first determine if you truly are ready to leave with a thorough examination.”
Ulric swallowed his morsel and agreed. “She is right, master. A few more weeks here, if not more.” He quipped, “I believe I must be examined as well.”
Lucius scoffed. “I believe what ails the gladiator slithers beneath his tunic skirt.”
She threw the young lycan a chastising look and then shot Ulric a quick glance. He raised an inviting brow. More weeks? Additional time to claim her? “Surrounded by slaves at your beck and call perhaps healing at home is a far better idea.” She locked eyes on Ulric. “Especially since your legs will take longer to heal and there is little more I can do.” Ulric made it clear, no more healing.
Ulric stood. “May I serve you, domina?”
“No, thank you. We ate well this morning. I shall ask Ferox to prepare more food for the two of you.”
As if he had read her mind, Ferox entered with more food pots and a flagon of watered wine. Lycans ate twice as much as humans.
She turned to Ferox. “When you are done, get more fish.”
The old slave raised a brow but did not protest. “Yes, domina.”
“Both of you enjoy your meal while I wash up.” She bowed to Lucius and dashed down the hall as far away from Ulric as possible. Her heart pounded against her chest as if she escaped a predator. Or perhaps she was the predator? Her desire to race back to Ulric like a wanton whore made her growl in frustration. She closed the curtains behind her.
The clinic! Everything was neat and clean. Her bloodied rags from her arm, gone. Did Ulric release his pent up energy by cleaning? She smiled. How thoughtful.
The warm bath beckoned. Since Lucius’ arrival, she had not had time to bathe. She sighed. A bath would do me good. Time to wash away the dust and grime. She disrobed and stepped in, lifting her bandaged arm so as not to wet it. The water warmed her tired muscles and relaxed her jumbled emotions. She reached for the oils and combs and cleaned herself. She tilted her head back and let the water soak her long tresses. She closed her eyes.
“May I help clean you?” Ulric’s voice, deep and husky, like a wolf alerting his prey.
Startled, she folded her arms over her exposed breasts. “Get out!”
He twisted a wolfish smile. “How can you reach the soiled spots when you have only one arm to clean with?”
“I don’t need your help.” Her voice quaked, “I managed to clean myself. I am right handed after all.” Goose flesh appeared on her skin not from the cold but from his eyes drinking in her nakedness. His hunger evident.
“I can make sure your wolf mark is not stained.” He stepped close and gazed. Without warning, he jumped in, tunic, sandals, and all, displacing water with his bulk.
She scooted to the opposite end, but it was useless. His massive frame occupied the entire bath, splashing water on the floor. In one fell swoop, he lifted her from the water and set her shivering like a wet cat on the floor. The feel of his calloused hands on her skin made her wolf mark rage with heat. He stood before her, his phallus large beneath the sodden skirt tunic. His gaze travelled down to her mark and he traced a finger over it. A guttural sound vibrated from his throat. Fangs emerged, ready for the feast. A colossal lion playing with a helpless lamb.
She shivered from his touch and his primal resonance. Her eyes closed. Desire and rebuff in emotional conflict with one another. Please, yes. “Please, don’t.” Dear Feronia, the consequences are too terrible.
“Unless another alpha has been calling, your mark should remain brown, not red like molten fire.” He took a drying cloth and draped it over her.
The feel of the cloth on her trembling skin made her gasp. He drew her in and gripped her head between his clawed hands. He bent down and gently bit her ear lobe. She moaned like an alley cat at the brush of his large manhood against her belly. Nothing would stop him from taking her.
He knelt next to her mark. “You belong to me and no one else.”
She had to be rational. “Ulric, my mark flames red for you, but we cannot be.”
His smoldering blue gray eyes seared her. “You know why it’s red. I’m yours.” He lowered his mouth to bite the mark but stopped. His eyes darkened and he glowered toward the entrance
. Emitting a low menacing growl, he hissed. “Lycans are coming.”
A cold chill swept through her. She raked back her wet hair. “But Macula is away.”
He flared his nostrils and sniffed the air in distain. “Not Macula. It’s the harpy, Floretta and her lycan guards.” He drew her in and planted a chaste kiss on her forehead. “Get dressed. She’s here to check on Lucius.” He mumbled, “And me.”
Her blood chilled from ice cold to dead cold. Floretta? She grabbed her tunic. “Go, before she finds you alone with me.”
He brusquely nodded and left.
Chapter 7
Carried on a litter by muscular betas, Floretta peeked between the curtains as she approached the gates of the villa. An alpha female dressed for combat opened the gates while Floretta’s guards bowed in submission. Ulric stood by the entrance to the villa, bare chested, staring with cold hard eyes. Floretta didn’t bother to look at him. Perhaps she really did come to check on just her son. What mother would not? Regardless, she stole a glimpse at Ulric before he stepped inside the villa through the back.
Cassia’s hair was sodden, she fretted; dear Feronia, Ulric was drenched as well. Floretta walked toward her, followed by beta guards, fierce looking even in their human forms. She straightened and turned to meet Macula’s wife.
Floretta turned to her betas. “Stay here!” She walked with Cassia up into the entrance. “I hope the gladiator and my son did not frighten you during the waxen moon.”
“Ferox and I left for the night before the full moon.”
Floretta smiled with a ghostly face. Like most noble women, she wore the popular white paste makeup called fucus. Floretta’s eyes were darkened with Egyptian kohl, her cheeks and lips painted with red dye, making her face appear mask-like. Though Cassia had on occasion worn such makeup, she never liked the feel of it. Floretta didn’t wear fragrant oils, which though popular, upset the lycan nose. “Most sensible.”
Cassia bowed. “Yes, domina, your kind frightens me.”
Floretta laughed, “Not my kind. I’m a human woman.”
